Blog

As businesses look to persevere through the economic downturn caused by COVID-19 and rebuild for the future, there is an even greater need to hold workforce education accountable for career growth and business impact.

Building on the work of other states, we partnered with the business communities in Idaho, Iowa, Mississippi, and Pennsylvania and their early education partners to understand just how much breakdowns in childcare cost each state. In this study we looked at the causes of childcare challenges as well as motivations behind why parents select various childcare providers. Knowing many employers want to facilitate more access to childcare but do not know where to begin, we sought to learn what types of childcare benefits working parents desire most from employers.

Nancy Lee Sánchez, Executive Director of the Kaplan Educational Foundation, recently examined the important purpose community colleges serve in the future of workforce development. A key point made is “community colleges are defined differently by those who enroll in them”, in other words, people view community colleges as a pathway towards different goals.

In today’s labor market, long-term talent strategies are often over-shadowed by the critical short-term needs of today and tomorrow. While immediate hiring needs are often the most pressing issues for HR departments, strategies like TPM can help businesses solve these common pain points—such as unfilled job openings, exorbitant training and onboarding costs, and attrition—and talent gaps collaboratively.

As a business leader, you’ve noticed it is becoming more and more difficult to hire and retain qualified workers. You’ve likely even considered the longer-term scenarios – will it be even more challenging to secure a reliable and productive workforce 5 or 10 or even 20 years from now?

To better understand the need and childcare challenges that currently exist, The San Diego Foundation partnered with San Diego Workforce Partnership and the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce to commission two new reports that outline the regional landscape surrounding early childhood care and the economy.

Last year, Cox and Big Brothers Big Sisters of Metro Atlanta (BBBSMA) joined forces to launch a new approach to mentoring with a program called Beyond School Walls. Though other BBBS affiliates had tried the program, this was the first of its kind for Atlanta. This program combines traditional mentorship with an immersive educational experience. The one simple, but very important element that makes this program different than traditional mentoring programs is location.

The current unemployment rate in Iowa is 2.5%, and there are currently 40,000 people on unemployment and 60,000 job openings. As historically low unemployment continues, employers are always looking for opportunities to recruit more workers and also to retain their existing workforce. To solve this challenge, Iowa business leaders have increased wages, offered flexible work environments where possible, and expanded benefits. More recently, one of those benefits is childcare.